Bottom wrapper feeder



Dec. 17, 1957 R. PowERs .2,316,408

BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER- Filed May '7, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 RICHARDvPOWERS AT'II'ORNEYS R. POWERS BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER Dec. 17, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May '7. 1956 WIYAI x INVENTOR.

RICHARD POWERS ATTORNEYS Dec. 17, 1957 R. POWERS BOTTOM WEAPPER FEEDER 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 7, 1956 .S www mP @E A H. mw RY B Lm,

ATTORNEYS Dec. 17, 1957 R. PowERs 2,816,408

' BOTTOM WRAPPER FEEDER Filed May '7, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 R|CHARDPOWERS BY 206 Inl FIG. 7.

Dec. 17, 1957 R. POWERS 2,816,408

` BOTTOM 'WRAPPER FEEDER Filed May 7, 1956 5 sheets-sheet 5 v INVENTOA|52 A |90 RICHARD POWERS les Y f BY '94.1 |92 @40g-f ATTO R N EYS UnitedStates horror/r WRAPPER FEEDER Application May 7, 1956, Serial No.y583,246

4 Cllilus- (Cl, 532-209) This invention relates to a machine adapted tofeed a wrapper sheet under an article. The machine of this invention hasutility, for example, in placing a wrapper sheet under a bundle ofnewspapers. Since its use in connection with newspaper bundles appearsto be typical, this invention will be discussed as applied to newspaperbun dles.

In the modern newspaper publishing plant, the news,- papers, afterprinting, are placed in bundles which are then protected by theplacement of a Wrapper sheet both underneath and on top of the bundle.In view of the great rapidity of the production of the bundles, it isdiiiicult to accomplish this. wrapping particularly with respect to theplacement of a wrapper sheet under each bundle. The machine of thisinvention solves the problem of placing a wrapper sheet underneath eachbundle as rapidly as the handles are supplied tothe machine.

The objects of this invention become fully apparent on reading thefollowing description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a. plan view of a machine in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine of Figure 1,;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the planes indicated by the line3T3 in Figure l;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the ma.- chine Shown inFigure Y3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line5-,.-5 in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the knife structure of the machine ofFigure 1,;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the control circuit of themachine of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken on the same plane as Figure 4 andshows an alternative embodiment for holding the wrapper sheet;

Figure 9 is a view taken on the plane 9-9 in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a modifica.- tion of thecontrol circuit of Figure 7.

As shown in Figures l and 2, a machine 2 in accordance with thisinvention has a supporting frame 4 on which is mounted a top surfaceplate 6. Plate 6 is provided with a plurality of openings 8 throughwhich project a plurality of conveyor rollers 16. Rollers 10, which aredriven bydrive shaft V1.2 as will be further described, are mounted onshafts 14 and shaft 16. Each of shafts 14 and 16 is mounted in endbearing plates 13. Shaft 12 is mounted in saddle bearings 26.

A motor 22, through a reduction gear box 24, drives a sprocket 2 6which, in turn, drives ychain 28 and sprocket 30 which is secured toshaft 12. A sprocket 34 (Figure l) secured to shaft 12 drives a chain 36which engages sprockets 38 secured respectively to shafts 14 and asprocket 40 (Figure l) mounted on shaft 42,. Sprocket 44 on shaft 4 2drives Jchain 46 which, in turn, drives sprocket 48. secured to shaft 16. Cover members 5,() and 52 adjacent surface plate 6 cover over thedriving chains and sprockets and the ends of the shafts being driven,

arent- O `use An article, for example, a bundle of newspapers can be fedto the machine 2 by a conveyor belt 54 shown mounted on conveyor roller56. The bundles can be removed by a conveyor belt 58 shown mounted on laconveyor roller 60.

As best seen in Figures l through 3, a spool 64 carries a Wrapper sheet66 and is mounted on a shaft 68 journaled in saddle bearing 70. Wrappersheet 66 is led upwardly past guide plates 72 and '74 and has itsleading edge 76 passing upwardly through an opening 78 which istransverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor system.

Although not essential to the operation of the machine of thisinvention, it is desirable to maintain some slack in the sheet 66,particularly if it is desired to use a very large roll of paper. Slackis achieved by means of a belt 80 driven by a pulley 82 mounted on ashaft 14 (see Figure 2). Belt 80 engages pulley 84 secured to shaft 68.Belt 80, which is preferably a V-belt engaging V-sh-aped pulleys, hassuicient slack so that it ordinarily will not drive shaft 68. A switch86 (Figure 3) is mounted on guide plate. 72 and has a control member 88projecting through an opening 911 in plate 72. When the sheet 66 istaut, it moves operating member 88 to close switch 8.6 and ac tuate asolenoid 9,2 (Figure 2). The actuation of solenoid 92 causes its plunger914 to move outwardly and pivot lever 9.6 away from solenoid 92. Thiscauses idler pulley 98 mounted on lever 96 to engage belt 80 removingthe., slack therefrom and thus causing belt 80 to drive, Shaft 6.3. Whenslack is provided in sheet'66, switch 8.6 opens and solenoid 92 retractsplunger 94. Solenoid 92 and lever- `9,6 are mounted on |a supportingplatiorrn 10i), which, in turn, is secured to frame 4.

The leading edge 76 of sheet 66 is prevented from falling downwardlywhen not engaged by a bundle of newspapers by means of a brake 1.04(Figure 3). Brake 104 has a pad 106 of a material having a relativelyhigh c0- eflicient of friction, for example, rubber which is secured toan ariu 19S illounted on shaft 110. Shaft `116 is mounted on bearings112 (Figure 1) and has secured to it a lever 11.4. (Figure 2,). Atension coil spring 116 has one end secured to leyer- 114 and the otherend secured to frame 4. to bias the lever 114, shaft and arm 108 So asto force pad 106 against sheet 6,6 which is in turn forced against guide72. A solenoid 118 has a plunger 120 which engages roller 1 22 on lever114. Actuation of solenoid 118. causes the brake mechanism to be movedso 21S to nieve pad 1,06 away. from paper Sheet 66 As shown in Figures land 2, in order to cut the wrapper sheet, the machine 2 is provided witha serrated knife 1.2.6y which iS Secured to Plates 123. and -A Blocks132. and 134. are secured to the underside of plates 128 and 1,30. and,in turn, are welded to a shaft 136. Shaft 136 is journaled in bearing138. Shaft 136 is connected to a link 14,0 which, in turn, is pivotablyconnected to a link 14,2,y which is pivotably secured to rod 144 of ram146.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, a cam 143 is flxedly secured toshaft1.36T and is adapted to engage brake lock out switch 1,52 and ram resetswitch 154.

As seen in Figures 3 and 4, a switch 156 which, as will be ydescribed ingreater detail later, is adapted to cause the release of brake 104, issecured to plate 72 and is operated by cam 158. As best seen in Figure4, cam 158 is secured to block 1 60 which is secured to block 162 andtogether with block 162 forms a saddle around shaft 136, the blocks 16dand 162 being freely rotatable about shaft 136. A coil tension spring164 is secured to block 162 and plate 128 to bias cam 158 upwardly awayfrom switch 156. At the right-hand end of block 160, as viewed in Figure4, is secured an upstauding linger 166 which is adapted to. be engagedby an article being conveyed to rot-ate. hloeksv 1.60 and 1 62 aboutShaft 13.6,.

The hahahaha sidesef: plates .1.28 and 130, as .viewed 3 in Figure 4,are arcuate in order to act as a guiding surface for the paper sheet 66.

A roller 147 is mounted for rotation in the blocks 132 and 134 securedto plate 128, roller 147 projecting upwardly through opening 14S to alevel slightly above the top of plate 128. Similarly, a roller 149 ismounted for rotation in the blocks 132 and 134 secured to plate 130,roller 149 projecting upwardly through an opening 151 to a levelslightly above the level of the top of plate 130.

The actuation of the ram 136 is initiated by switch 170 (see Figure 3).Switch 170 is actuated by a lever 172 which is pivoted at 174. Lever 172is provided with a cam end 176 which projects upwardly through anopening 178 in plate 6. The end 176 is adapted to be cammed downwardlyby an article being conveyed. The cam end 17,6`is provided with anL-shaped linger 180 which is adapted to engage the bottom of top plate 6to limit the upper travel of lever 172. A tension coil spring 182 actsto bias lever 172 downwardly against switch 170 to maintain this switchin a normally open position.

Referring now to the schematic showing of Figure 7, the brake solenoid118 is connected by lines 186 and 188 respectively to power lines 190and 192. The brake reiease switch 156 is in line 186 and the brakelockout switch 152 is in line 188. Solenoid 92, which controls idlerpulley 98 associated with belt 80, is connected to line 190 by line 194which contains switch 86 and to line 192 by line 196. A iiuid controlvalve 200 which controls the direction of operation of ram 146 isconnected to line 192. Movement of valve 200 in the direction to causethe rain 146 to retract and thus raise knife 126 is caused by theenergizing of line 202 which is connected through timer 204 to line 190,the switch 170 being on the other side of timer 204 in line 190. Timer204 is connected to line 192 by means of line 206. The movement of valve200 in the direction to cause ram 146 to pull the knife 126 downwardlyis caused by the energizing of line 208 which contains switch 154 and isconnected to line 190.

Operation ln operation motor 22 is operated continuously to continuouslyoperate the conveyor rollers 10. The leading edge 76 of wrapper sheet 66is fed up past brake 104 and guide plates 72 and 74 until it projectsupwardly above top plate 6. Slack is maintained in sheet 66 through theactuation of switch 86 when sheet 66 becomes too taut which, in turn,causes solenoid 92 to force idler roller 98 against belt 80 to take upthe slack and in turn to cause the belt to rotate the roll of paper. Aspreviously indicated, this arrangement for providing slack is notessential.

As a bundle 210 is advanced from conveyor belt 54 onto the machine 2,the leading edge 76 of sheet 66 is maintained projecting upwardly abovetop plate 6 by means of brake 104 which is held in braking engagementwith paper 66 by means of spring 116.

As bundle 210 is conveyed against sheet 66, it frictionally engagessheet 66 and, at the same time, acts against linger 166 to rotate blocks160 and 162 and hence cam 158 into engagement with switch 156 which isthus closed actuating brake solenoid 118 to release brake 104 from itshold on sheet 66.

Sheet 66 is carried along with and underneath bundle 210 rst by beingfrictionally engaged by the bundle and then by the conveyor rollers 10directly.

When bundle 210 engages cam end 176 of lever 172, lever 172 is raisedover switch 170 thus permitting switch 170 to close. This, in turn,through timer 204 energizes line 202 causing valve 200 to shift andintroduce iiuid, for example, air into ram 146 to cause the ram toretract. T he retraction of ram 146 rotates shaft 136 causing serratedknife 126 to be elevated thus severing the sheet 66 behind the trailingedge of bundle 210 which has just passed the knife. This completes theoperation of placing a section of the wrapper sheet 66 under a passingbundle 210 which is now conveyed to conveyor belt 58 and thence awayfrom the machine 2.

The rotation of shaft 136 caused cam 148 to rst engage brake lockoutswitch 152 to promptly deenergize solenoid 118 which is subsequentlykept in a deenergized state by the subsequent opening of switch 156 onthe moving of finger 166 to its upright position by spring 164. Near theend of the stroke of ram 146, cam 148 cams switch 154 shut to energizeline 208 to valve 200. Substantially at the same time, timer 204 opensits switch 210 which deenergizes line 202. With line 208 energized andline 202 deenergized, valve 200 shifts to introduce fluid into ram 146in a direction to cause the ram to move its plunger 144 outwardly thuscausing the rotation of shaft 136 and the movement of knife 126 backinto a substantially horizontal position. As the trailing edge of bundle210 moves olf of cam end 176 of lever 172, spring 182 moves lever 172and switch 170 returns to its normally open position.

Alternatively, the above described structure can be modified to provideother friction means to prevent the sheet 66 from falling downwardlywhen not engaged by a bundle. As shown in Figure 8, a friction device214 hasl lan L-shaped bracket 215 secured to guide plate 72 and, inturn, having secured thereto, a pair of upstanding members 216 and 218.A lever 220 is pivotably secured to members 216 and 218 by means of apin 222. Lever 220 has adhesively secured to its outer end a blade 224of rubber or the like having a high coeicient of friction with paperwhich has a chamfered face 226.

A second friction device 228 is placed adjacent the other side of sheet66 and is identical with device 214 with the exception that it has anL-shaped bracket 230 which is the reverse of bracket 215.

The center line of each blade 224 and each lever 220 extends upwardlyand intersects sheet 66. As sheet 66 is moved upwardly, each blade 224and lever 220 is pivoted about pin 222 thus freely releasing sheet 66for travel upwardly. When sheet 66 is released and commences to falldownwardly slightly, each blade 224 and lever 220 pivots downwardlyabout pin 222 causing blade 224 to engage sheet 66 tightly against guideplate 72.

When the friction means 214 and 228 are employed, it is not necessary tohave brake 104 in engagement with sheet 66 during all of the time thatit is not engaged by a bundle. Thus, when friction devices 214 and 228are employed, the control circuit of Figure 7 can be modiiied as shownin Figure l0. The modification, as shown in Figure l0, simply involveseliminating switch 156 in line 186. In all other respects the controlcircuit of Figure 7 is unmodified.

The modification of the control circuit permits the elimination of thestructure used to actuate switch 156 as well as the switch 156 itself.Thus, as will be seen from a comparison of Figures 4 and 8, which aretaken on the same vertical plane, it is possible to eliminate switch 156and the associated mechanism employed to actuate switch 156, includingcam 158, blocks 160 and 162, spring 164 and linger 166.

It will be evident that in this alternative embodiment, brake 104 willengage sheet 66 only while switch 152 is kept in the open position bycam 148. Y

It is not desired to be limited except as set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet underl an articlecomprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyormeans having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of theconveyor for the passage of a Wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor,brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an opstanding edge projectingthrough said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means engagingsaid wrapper'- sheet, means responsive to an article being. conveyedy torelease said brake means after an article has engaged the Wrapper sheet,said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagement withsaid upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey the bundleand sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife inadvance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife andmeans responsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knifeoperating means after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrappersheet.

2. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet under an articlecomprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyormeans having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of theconveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor,brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projectingthrough said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means normallyengaging said wrapper sheet, means responsive to an article beingconveyed to release said brake after an article has engaged the wrappersheet, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagementwith said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey thebundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife inadvance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife, meansresponsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knife operatingmeans after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet andmeans operated by said knife operating means to deactivate said brakereleasing means.

3. A machine adapted to feed a Wrapper sheet under an articlecomprising: conveyor means adapted to convey an article, said conveyormeans having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of theconveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor,means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projecting throughsaid opening and above the conveyor, said conveyor being adapted toconvey said bundle into engagement with said upstanding edge of thesheet and subsequently to convey the bundle and sheet together to drawthe sheet under the bundle, a knife having a serrated cutting edge inadvance of the opening for the sheet, said knife lying at rest in aplane substantially parallel to the top of the conveyor and beingadapted v to be swung upwardly to sever the wrapper paper behind anarticle being conveyed, means to operate said knife and means responsiveto an article being conveyed to actua ate said knife operating meansafter the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet.

4. A machine adapted to feed a wrapper sheet under an articlecomprising: conveyor means adaptedto convey an article, said conveyormeans having an opening transverse to the direction of travel of theconveyor for the passage of a wrapper sheet upwardly above the conveyor,brake means to hold a wrapper sheet with an upstanding edge projectingthrough said opening and above the conveyor, said brake means normallyengaging said wrapper sheet, means responsive to an article beingconveyed to release said brake after an article has engaged the wrappersheet, said conveyor being adapted to convey said bundle into engagementwith said upstanding edge of the sheet and subsequently to convey thebundle and sheet together to draw the sheet under the bundle, a knife inadvance of the opening for the sheet, means to operate said knife, meansresponsive to an article being conveyed to actuate said knife operatingmeans after the bundle has passed the knife to cut the wrapper sheet andmeans to reset the knife in its original non-operative position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,711,228 Duvall et al. Apr. 30, 1929 2,636,654 Sykes Apr. 28, 19532,651,899 Ackley Sept. 15, 1953 2,724,225 Haidegger Nov. 22, 19552,737,002 Demler Mar. 6, 1956 2,739,431 Griswold et al. Mar. 27, 19562,746,224 Wollett May 22, 1956 2,775,085 Kottmaun Dec. 25, 19562,778,176 Haase Jan. 22, 1957

